


Red Apples

by ClarissaNotFound



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - School, Cute Kids, Fluff, Kid Fic, M/M, Modern Era, Other, Sad and Happy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-27
Updated: 2017-11-27
Packaged: 2019-02-07 18:14:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12846750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ClarissaNotFound/pseuds/ClarissaNotFound
Summary: Levi is starting a new school and life is tough. Luckily, on his very first day, he tries to steal an apple from Erwin...and his life starts to get a lot nicer.





	Red Apples

**Author's Note:**

> Enjoy this slice of life kid eruri everyone. :) This was an interesting one to write, in terms of trying to keep the language appropriate while still being interesting enough to read so I hope you enjoy it. Feel free to let me know what you think!
> 
> Chapter Two will be Twelve Years  
> Chapter Three will be Eighteen Years

When Levi Ackerman walked into his new school, at the age of six, dragging his backpack with the dodgy zip and the hole in the pocket, he felt scared. Really scared. It was all too different and there were so many other kids and they all looked at him. He wanted to shrink away and hide. Instead, he scowled. Really hard.

He sat in an empty seat at the back of the class, pulling at the loose threads on his two-sizes-too-big jumper, not paying attention to anything the teacher said. He stared out the window. He wanted to go outside and play in the long grass, run around by himself, have fun. Instead he had to sit here in this stupid room with these stupid people where stupid Kenny had sent him. 

At lunchtime he followed the others into the canteen, opened his battered red lunchbox with the ripped-off stickers, and nibbled at the slices of bread and butter Kenny had managed to provide for him. _If you want something else you gotta earn it, kid. Or steal it._

Levi glanced at the lunchbox that was on the table next to him. It was pastel blue with pink stitching and looked like a tiny satchel bag. Levi wished it belonged to him. A quick glance into its open top showed thick towers of cheese sandwiches, all neat in a paper wrapping, and next to them a little row of carefully-cut carrot sticks, a stack of round crackers and, best of all, a bright, shining red apple.  

He stared at the apple most of all. Then he glanced at its owner. Levi recognised him from his class, blonde with a stupid smile, currently reading a book spread out on his knee with a sandwich halfway to his mouth. Levi felt a surge of frustration at this tall, neat, boy with his perfect lunchbox and his perfect lunch and his perfect hair. Who did he think he was to have such nice things?  

Quick as a flash of light, Levi snatched the pretty apple from the box and clutched it to his chest. He glared at the boy with the blonde hair, daring him to try and take it back and half hoping he would so he could give him a smack in the mouth. But the boy just turned to stare at him, and his eyes reminded Levi of the way the sky looked in summer. 

“You must really like apples,” he said, laughing. Levi’s scowl melted into confusion. He didn’t look mad. He looked...Levi didn’t know the word for it, but it was like happy, and that didn’t make any sense. Frustration overtook him. Then shame. His grip on the apple loosened. He looked down at it in his tiny fingers, stroking the waxen skin with his thumb. He wanted so much to eat it. Instead he reached out, placed it back into the other boy’s lunchbox, and silently turned back to his dry bread.  

After a few moments he felt the other boy looking over his shoulder, peering at his lunch, eyeing the meagre bread and half a bag of slightly-browning lettuce. 

“Hey,” he said. “Would you like to trade?” 

Levi looked up, wide-eyed and mid-chew. 

“Uhm,” was all he managed to say around his mouthful of bread. The blonde boy just smiled at him and picked up the apple, placing it into Levi’s lunchbox. It looked out of place. 

“You have this,” he said, firmly. “And in exchange you’ll be my friend, okay?” 

Levi wasn’t sure what to say. He watched the apple like he was expecting it to disappear, and after a few seconds reached out an uncertain hand to pick it up. He held it to his chest once more. He so much wanted it, but no longer to eat. 

“Okay,” he agreed without looking up. 

“I don’t have many friends so it’ll be nice to be yours,” the boy said cheerfully. “My name’s Erwin Smith and I’m five years and eight months old and when I’m older I want to be a teacher! My Papa is a teacher. Our teacher said your name is Levi, right? I like it. It’s kind of a cool name. Like a musician. Or a scientist!” 

Erwin garbled enthusiastically, swinging his knees, and Levi felt a tiny smile twitch at his mouth. 

“Yeah. Levi. Hi, Erwin,” he replied when Erwin finally stopped. 

“What do you want to be when you’re older Levi?” asked Erwin. Levi thought for a moment. He looked up at Erwin. 

“Tall.” 

Levi pretended to take such a long time eating his food that Erwin got shooed out into the playground first, and he could hide the beautiful apple in his bag without him knowing. He took it home and hid it under his pillow so that when he went to bed that night it was there waiting for him. He took an experimental bite of it, just the smallest amount, enjoying the sound of the crunch and the sweet, fresh taste that followed. Then he put it back under his pillow. Since he traded it for his friendship then eating the whole thing might mean that he couldn’t be friends with Erwin anymore. So, he thought, he would make sure to keep the apple safe. 

The next day, though, Erwin had two apples. It hadn’t occurred to Levi that there might be _more,_ that he and Erwin could _both_ have an apple, and he gazed at it with wide-eyed amazement. 

“My father let me have both of these today,” Erwin said eagerly. “One for me and one for you, Levi.” 

“If we _both_ have an apple,” Levi said slowly, quietly. “That means we _both_ have a friend..?” 

“Well,” Erwin replied with a smile. “Maybe we _both_ have a friend even if there aren’t any apples?” 

Levi liked the idea. He abandoned his bread altogether and ate the fruit, savouring each bite, the nicest thing he’d ever eaten. Erwin did the same. Then they put the cores down on the table side by side and Levi showed Erwin how to make spitballs out of bits of paper, giggling, trying to knock the cores over with them.  

That night Levi happily ate the apple that he’d hidden under his pillow. 

After that, Erwin brought something to share with him every day. Sometimes an apple, but sometimes an orange or a handful of grapes or a box of juice. Once it had been a piece of chocolate cake wrapped in foil, so shiny and alluring that at first Levi thought that _that_ was what Erwin was giving him. Then to find out that it contained cake it was too much for him. He looked at the squidgy brown square sitting on crinkly silver and started to cry. Erwin patted him on the shoulder and gave him a tissue and didn’t ask what was wrong. When a teacher did, Levi didn’t know how to explain what was upsetting him but with the tissue clutched tight in one hand and the cake in the other he soon calmed down. 

When they had stored away their now-empty lunch boxes and started to walk outside to the playground, Levi reached up and took hold of Erwin’s hand. Erwin smiled and let him. 

* 

Often times, when it was warm outside, Erwin would spend recess sitting on the grass underneath a tall tree, reading a book. Levi always joined him. At first he found it confusing how Erwin could sit like that for so long, just pouring over pages, but Levi was used to making his own entertainment so he took to pulling up grass or playing with his shoelaces, or sometimes with Erwin’s hair, messing it up then smoothing it down and then repeating. Erwin didn’t seem to mind.  

After a while Levi started to try and read the books over Erwin’s shoulder, so Erwin took to reading out loud for him. He didn’t always really understand what Erwin’s books were about but he still liked to sit and rest and listen to his voice. Once, on an especially sleepy day, Levi cuddled under Erwin’s arm and gazed up at his friend’s face, watching the way his mouth moved to the words. Erwin stopped when he noticed. 

“What’s wrong Levi?” he asked. 

“Nothing,” Levi answered quickly, scowling. “Your shitty eyebrows.” He instantly felt bad about the words. He called Kenny shitty all the time but he thought Kenny deserved it. Erwin was nice. Not shitty. 

“They are pretty big,” Erwin chuckled easily. Levi blinked a few times. He had been sure Erwin would be angry about that but...he wasn’t. So now he did actually look up at his eyebrows. 

“I want to touch,” he said. When Erwin nodded he reached up and ran a cautious finger across one. 

“What do you think they feel like?” Erwin asked with a little smile. 

“Dunno,” Levi frowned. “Soft. Like carpet.” 

“You’re so funny, Levi,” said Erwin, for some reason making Levi think of the picture of soft, swirly ice cream he’d seen on the side of a bus once. He settled back down next to Erwin, head on his chest, and tapped the book with his palm. 

“Read more?” 

* 

Erwin loved to read but he also liked to play. He thought he was pretty good at sports. He thought Levi was even better. Small, quick and strong. When he told his friend, he just stuck his tongue out and told him to piss off. But after the kick-around Levi came to his side and clutched his hand so tightly it nearly hurt. Erwin clutched back. 

* 

“Papa, school was _amazing_ today!” Erwin said as soon as he scrambled into the car beside his father, unable to hold in his excitement. 

“Oh, why is that?” his father chuckled. Erwin dutifully let him strap his seatbelt in place before he continued. 

“We grew cress!” he explained. “Cress is so cool, Papa. It came out of seeds, like magic, but then I found out it’s not magic it’s just how plants grow and I think that’s even _better_ than magic, don’t you? Do you have any books about plants Papa?” 

“Hm, well, I’ll have to have a look for you when we get home,” his father said, smiling as Erwin proceeded to ask him endless questions about how plants grow and why and exactly why he thought they were amazing. 

“Papa,” he said, lunchbox and bag in hand as they walked down the driveway of their home. “Can you grow people? Like plants?” He stood patient as his father opened the door for them, keys rattling on their chain. 

“No Erwin, I’m afraid not,” he replied, and ruffled Erwin’s hair very gently, letting him into the house. “People are a lot more complicated to grow than plants. They needs lots more things.” 

“What kinds of things?” 

“Well some the same as plants – water, sunlight, food. But they also need other things like love and comfort and fun to help them grow properly.” 

“Oh,” Erwin said, following his father around the kitchen as he poured them both a glass of juice. “That’s a shame.” 

“Why is that?” 

“Well, it’s just, my friend Levi is so small,” Erwin sighed. “I thought maybe I could help him grow him like my cress...are you sure Papa? What if I watered him really well, every day, and he sat in the sun all day?” His father smiled, eyes crinkling, and he lifted Erwin into his arms, hugging him. 

“You can do the other things for your friend, Erwin,” he said, and Erwin wrapped his arms around his neck. 

“Make sure he has fun and is comfortable and loved, you mean Papa?” 

“Yes.” 

Erwin smiled brightly and kissed his father on the cheek. 

*

Levi couldn’t understand why Erwin was so nice to him. Another thing he couldn’t understand was why Erwin didn’t seem to have any other friends. As far as he was concerned everyone should want to be friends with Erwin because Erwin was kind and he was clever and he had nice eyes that made Levi feel safe. Sometimes Levi would think about Erwin when he was falling asleep and would get a warm feeling in his chest. Then he would feel quite glad that no one else was Erwin’s friend because it meant that he had Erwin all to himself. 

When Erwin invited Levi to have a sleepover at his house Levi wasn’t sure what it meant, but Erwin was so excited about the idea that Levi said yes anyway. He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to bring so he didn’t bring anything. Erwin looked confused at him when he realised, but just shrugged and said it was alright, they could just get his Dad to take them to Levi’s house later to pick up his pyjamas. 

Levi tried to imagined Erwin in his house. It was impossible. Erwin didn’t belong amongst Kenny’s empty cigarette packets and that window with the tape over the crack, but Levi didn’t know how to say that so he just punched Erwin hard in the chest and ran off.   
Not long later, Erwin found him where he was hiding behind the janitor’s shed. He curled his long legs so he could slide into the space beside him. He looked awkward, much too big, while Levi fit just right. For once Levi wasn’t envious of his classmate’s tallness. 

He usually let Erwin talk. Erwin _liked_ to talk. He had ideas all the time about all sorts of things and he would nod along and it was nice just to listen to Erwin. Now, Erwin was quiet. Levi wasn’t sure how to deal with _quiet_ Erwin. He started to feel agitated, rubbing his hands on his trousers like they had dirt on them, wondering why Erwin wasn’t saying anything and it was too weird and the silence wasn’t...it wasn’t right, he didn’t like it, and- 

“Can I still come to your house?” he blurted into his shrugged knees. 

“Yeah, of course you can,” Erwin replied in a gentle voice. 

“I won’t hit you again.” 

“Hitting your friends is bad, but it only hurt a little bit so it didn’t matter and I know you didn’t mean it Levi, so don’t worry.” 

“Oh,” said Levi. “Good.” 

“My father says it’s okay to get a bit mad sometimes,” Erwin told him. “But you should just take deep breaths and close your eyes until you’re not mad anymore.” Levi wasn’t sure he understood but Erwin sounded so wise that he nodded anyway, just accepting it. 

“Kenny gets mad all the time,” he said quietly. “He needs to learn to...close his eyes.” 

“I bet that’s not very nice,” Erwin said after a pause, and he gave Levi a sideways hug. If anyone else touched him then Levi kicked them in the shins and pushed them over. With Erwin it was okay. 

They wriggled out of the small space. Levi fussed over bits of leaves that had stuck to Erwin’s jumper. He made Erwin stand still until he had picked off every last bit. 

“Hey, I have an idea,” said Erwin as they walked to the school gates. “So you don’t have to go home – you can borrow one of my shirts to sleep in? I mean it’ll be reeeally long on you but it’ll do!” He giggled and Levi huffed. He liked it though. 

“You have good ideas Erwin,” he said. Erwin’s cheeks flushed red with pride. 

* 

Everything in Erwin’s house made Levi feel shy and slightly annoyed. It smelt nice. It looked clean. It had a carpet that smooshed softly around his feet. 

He watched Erwin drop his bag down on the floor. It looked wrong in this tidy room so Levi picked it up for him, holding it while Erwin took off his shoes. He noticed Erwin’s father looking at him and he felt like he’d been caught doing something naughty, even though he’d just stood still and quiet. Then Levi noticed that he had the same eyes as Erwin did. He released the breath he hadn’t realised he was holding in. He felt better.   
Erwin’s father made them some food for tea and Levi stared at it, poking gently at the little breadcrumbed shapes, unable to stop himself from whispering to Erwin; 

“Wow! They look like fishies.” 

He gobbled it all up and than ran his finger around the plate to capture every last crumb. It was good. At home he ate whatever he could find in the fridge. One time it was half a pot of plain yoghurt, another some leftover cold fries. Once or twice it was nothing. 

This, he decided, was much better. It was hot and it looked nice and fun and it made him want to smile, so he did. 

“I want to eat this all the time,” he said to himself while Erwin was helping clear the table. 

“Come on,” Erwin said once he was done, taking hold of Levi’s hand to drag him into the living room. “Let’s play something!” 

Despite his father’s words about plants, Erwin could resist trying it out. He made Levi sit under the big living room lamp while he brought some toys over. Levi stared up at the bulb. 

“Help me grow huh?” he said in wonder, once Erwin had explained. 

“Yes! Well, maybe. Papa didn’t think it would work and he is usually right because he’s the smartest person in the whole world but I just want to make _sure_ and it won’t hurt to try, right?” Erwin replied, full of bubbling enthusiasm. Levi looked up at him. 

“Okay Erwin,” he smiled. 

Predictably Erwin had some nice toys. Levi had only seen toys like his in magazines. Playdough still in the right tubs, crayons with all the lids on, and legos in all the colours and sizes. Levi wasn’t sure what to do with all of them so he let Erwin decide that they would build a fort out of the legos and Levi happily helped by digging out all the brown bricks for him. Once he’d done that, and Erwin was concentrating so hard on snapping the pieces in place according to his plan that his tongue was sticking out of his mouth, Levi decided to start sorting all the other bricks into piles of colours. When it was time for bed, and he had to put them all mixed up again into the plastic yellow box, he felt uncomfortable about it. 

Erwin found him a shirt to wear that fell to his knees. Levi worried at the edges but he didn’t mind it. He put it on with the help of Erwin’s father and snuggled down into the sleeping bag. He stared at the tall ceiling above him, rocking his feet back and forth under the cosy covers. 

“Erwin?” he whispered once the door was closed. 

“Yes Levi?” Erwin said, and his head poked over the edge of his bed. 

“Your house isn’t bad,” he told him, and he liked the way Erwin smiled at that. 

“Yeah,” he said. “It’s the best. What’s your house like?” Levi turned over. 

“Not like this,” he answered after a moment. Erwin didn’t say anything for a little while. 

“Hey Levi?” he did say at last. 

“Erwin?” 

“Do you feel any bigger yet?” 

Levi considered for a moment. 

“No.” 

“Ah.” 

Erwin sounded disappointed. 

“It’s okay,” Levi said. 

“Papa is always right,” said Erwin. He sighed, thinking back to what else he had said. “Are you comfy Levi?” 

“Comfy?” Levi frowned, wriggling a bit in the sleeping bag. “Yeah.” 

“And did you have fun today?” 

“Yeah.” 

“Does Kenny love you?” 

“Dunno,” Levi frowned again, pulling the sheets up over his nose. Erwin was asking weird questions today.  

He looked at the wallpaper, covered in spaceships, and imagined them flying off on one of them to some nice place where all the lego bricks were sorted into the right colours all of the time and he had nothing to eat apart from food shaped like animals. 

“Levi?” Erwin said, almost when Levi had thought he must have fallen asleep. 

“Erwin?” 

“My Papa told me that people need love to grow.” 

“Oh.” 

“So if Kenny doesn’t love you enough maybe that’s why you’re so small? So...so I’ve decided that I love you Levi, and I’m going to love you so much that it helps you grow, okay?” 

Levi smiled into the sheets. 

“Okay Erwin.” 


End file.
